Display appliance



De.1, 1936. D. v. WALKER 'l y `2,062,302

DISPLAY APPLIANGE Filed Jan. "r, 193e Patented Dec. l, 1936 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in display appliances and moreparticularly to racks for displaying bolts of cloth or piece-goods. Y Inexplanation of the invention,l it may be '5v stated that according tothe general practice, bolts or rolls of piece-goods are generallystocked on shelves or racks behind a sales counter, this practicerequiring the transfer of the bolts or rolls to the counter for displayof the goods to a prospective customer. After the customer has inspecteda few of the bolts the counter becomes crowded, with the result that thebolts of piecegoods are difiicult to handle and are not so maintained asto be displayed properly.

Attempts have been made to devise counter 'racks-or the like on which abolt of cloth may be held in display position, but such attempts havenot been entirely successful for numerous reasons,` among which may benoted faulty design of the racks, complexity of construction, anddifliculty in manipulation, all of which has legislated against suchracks coming into common usage.

Accordingly, among the objects of the present invention may be noted theprovision of an improved counter rack for displaying bolts or rolls ofcloth goods or,`as more commonly designated,

piece-goods, which overcomes the disadvantages of the priorconstructions above noted; the provision of a counter rack on whichbolts of piecegoods may be positioned for display and from which the bolts may be removed ina simple manner; the provision of a counter rackof the above character on'which a desired number of bolts of piece-goodsmay be arranged in such manner that any one or a plurality of the boltsmay be removed from the rack without disturbing the bolts remaining onthe rack; the provision of a counter rack of the character underconsideration which is simple and inexpensive in construction andinstallation, rugged and durable in use, sightly in appearance, andwhich well fullls the ends for which it is intended.

Other objects will' be inpart obvious and in part hereinafter pointedout in connection with the accompanying drawing illustrating anembodiment of my invention.

In the drawing- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a counter or likesupporting surface equipped with a rack in accordance with theinvention, a bolt of piecegoods beingpartially illustrated in displayposition thereon;

. Fig. 2 is a partial Fig. 1;

section along lines 2-2 of Fig. 3 is a partially separated view of therack anchoring strip in relation to a grooved counter top;

Fig. 4 is a section along lines 4--4 of Fig. l.

In the drawing wherein similar reference characters designate similarparts throughout the various views, reference character I0 designates asupporting surface such as a counter top which is generally horizontallydisposed, but not necessarily so, as the racking facilities to behereinafter described could well be applied to an inclined supporting ordisplay surface. In carrying out my invention I propose to provide thecounter top with spaced, longitudinally extending grooves I I, I2, thegrooves being disposed in parallel relation and extending for anydesired length of counter. The said grooves provide longitudinallyextending recesses, preferably rectangular in cross section, for thereception of a pair of anchoring strips generally designated I3, I4, ofwhich the strip I3 seats in counter groove I I and the strip I 4 seatsin counter groove I2. EBy reference to Fig. 4, each such strip, whichmay be fabricated from metal, includes an edge flange portion 20, anintegral underlying portion 2l from which depends a rectangular channelformed bythe side walls 22, 24 and the bottom connecting wall 25, withan opposite edge flange A2li extending from the channel wall 24. Thesaid edge or flange portions 2U, 26 are formed to extend in the samehorizontal plane and are adapted to lie flush on the top surface of thecounter I0 when the channel portion of the strip is laid in a groovesuch as groove I3 of the counter, the depth of the channel portion beingsuch that with the edge flange portions 20, 26 engaging flush on the topsurface of the counter, the bottom wall 25 of the channel may seatsubstantially against the bottom wall of the counter groove. 4

The width of the edge flange 20 is substantially greater than the widthof the' integral underlying portion 2`I of the strip, so that asubstantial width of the flange 20 extends on to the top countersurface. The flange portions 20, 26 of a strip are each pro-vided withopenings as at 2'I for the reception of nails or screws-28 which extendinto the counter and thus function to securely position a channel stripwithin a counter groove. As will be more clearly seen from Fig. 3, theinwardly extending portion of the flange 20 and the related underlyingportion 2| form an overhang designated 30, such overhang extending for.an appreciable distance over the open side or mouth of the channelportion of the strip.-

By reference to Figs. 1 and 2, the anchoring strips I I, I2 areoppositely formed; that is to say, if anchoring strip I3 is regarded asa left-hand strip, with the overhang 30 extending towards the centerline of the counter I0, then the companion strip I4 will be a right-handstrip, with its overhang 30 similarly extending toward the center of thecounter.

In the overhang 30 of each of said strips I provide notches 3|,preferably tapered towards their base portions, the notches of one stripbeing transversely .aligned with the notches of the other strip. Alignedwith each notch 3| I provide holes 32 through the adjacent wall 22 ofthe channel portion of the strip, said holes registering with shortbores or recesses 33 formed in the relatively outer wall of the countergrooves. It will be understood from the foregoing description that theopposed anchoring strips I3, I4 are provided with aligned openings 32through a side wall of the channel portions of the strips, and that thecounter top is provided with aligned recesses 33 behind the said channelopenings 32.

The cloth bolt engaging and holding element proper is preferably in theform of a V-shaped bracket element 36 which may be fabricated of rodstock, the legs of the bracket being offset laterally as at 31 andterminating in beveled or pointed ends 38. The width of the free ends ofthe bracket element 36 is normally greater than the distance between theanchoring strips I3, I4, but the bracket element has considerable springaction whereby the legs thereof may be urged towards each other sothatthe offset ends 31 thereof may extend into the channel portions ofthe anchoring strips. In order to mount the bracket element or elementsin position to display a bolt of cloth disposed thereon, the legs of abracket are pressed together so that the ends thereof may extend intothe strip channel portions, and the points 38 of the bracket areinserted into the holes 32 in` the channels. Upon release of the bracketlegs, the inherent spring action thereof causes the legs to spring awayfrom each other so that the points 38 arey pro'- jected through theholes 321 and into the recesses 33 of the counter as indicated in Fig-2, with the tapering notches 3l, in which the body portions of the legsare received, exerting a wedging action thereon, thereby securelyanchoring the brackets to the anchoring strips and in generally uprightposition with respect to the counter top By reference to Fig. 1 theupper or apex portion of a bracket may extend into the hollow core of abolt of cloth or, if the bolt is provided with a solid core, may projectbetween the core and an adjacent layer of cloth whereby the bolt ofcloth is held in upright position on the counter. It will be understoodthat any desired number of brackets may be so anchored in the anchoringstrips I3, I4, such being limited only by the numberl of anchoringnotches 3| and holes 32 and 33.

The above described arrangement has many advantages in use. In the rstplace, bolts of cloth are racked directly on the counter and in displayposition so that a prospective customer may view the cloth of the boltswithout requiring a clerk to handle the bolts or to transfer the boltsto the counter from a shelf behind the counter. Further, the piece-goodsof a bolt may be viewed and handled without disturbing the boltingarrangement. Again, where the goods of one bolt has been substantiallydepleted, such bolt may be removed merely by .springing the ends of thebracket towards each other, thus to withdraw the bracket from itsanchoring relation in the strips I3, I4; or the bolt may be merelylifted from a bracket and another bolt threaded thereon. It will benotable further that the addition or removal of a bolt of cloth may beaccomplished without disturbing any of the other bolts, as each bracketis anchored individually in the strips I3, I4. With the arrangementbeing such that one or a large number of bolts of cloth may beattractively displayed, and where it is desired that a relatively fewbolts of cloth be shown, all unused brackets may be removedindividually, thus overcoming disadvantageous display features of rackshaving permanently secured brackets or equivalent bolt holding devices.

While in the foregoing I have described the in vention as embodyinganchoring strips which are set into grooves in the counter top, it is tobe understood that the anchoring strips may be mounted bodily on the topsurface of the counter to form raised anchoring rails for the brackets33 and, with such a raised raill arrangement, the edge or flangeportions 20,126 may be substantially eliminated or may be bent over tolie flush against the walls 22, 24 of the channel portion of the strip,thus to reinforce the strip. All such and other variations andmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intendedto be included within the scope of the present invention.

I claim:

1. In a. display appliance, the combination of a supporting surface,parallel anchoring strips secured thereto, the strips each including achannel and a double thickness flange portion overseating in saidnotches and its end portions extending into the channel recess andcooperating with the relatively outer wall of the channel.

2. In a display appliance, the combination of a supporting surface,parallel anchoring strips channel and a double thickness flange portionoverhanging said channel, the overhanging portions of said strips beingprovided with aligned notches and the channel portions being providedwith related apertures through a wall thereof, and at least one bracketextending between said anchoring strips with its ends extending throughsaid apertures and passing through said notches.

3. In a display appliance, the combination of a supporting surface,parallel anchoring strips secured thereto, each of said strips includinga channel and a double thickness flange portion overhanging saidchannel, aligned notches formed in said overhanging portions of saidstrips, and the wall of each channel being provided with openings inalignment with said notch, and at least one bracket extending betweensaid strips and including leg portions, the distance between the freeend of said leg portions being greater than the distance between saidstrips, the leg portions of said bracket being movable towards eachother for insertion into the channel portions of said strips and beingthereupon expansible whereby the ends thereof may pass through saidaligned openings and notches.

4. In a display appliance, the combination of a supporting surfaceprovided with parallel grooves, anchoring strips seated in said grooves,each of said strips including a channel portion,

. secured thereto, each of said strips including a a portion overhangingsaid channel portion, and edge flanges, said edge anges engaging flushwith the top of the supporting surface, the overhanging portion of eachchannel being provided with spaced notches, with the notches of thechannels being transversely aligned, and the wall of each channel beingprovided with openings aligned with said notches, and at least onebracket member extending between said anchoring strips, said brackethaving laterally offset end portions, said end portions extending intothe channels and projecting through the openings thereof, and saidbracket adjacent said end portions engaging in said notches.

5. In a display appliance, the combination of a supporting surfaceprovided with parallel grooves, the relatively outer Wall of each groovehaving spaced recesses, anchoring strips seated in said grooves, each ofsaid strips including a channel portion, a portion overhanging saidchannel portion, and edge anges, said edge flanges engaging the top ofthe supporting surface. the overhanging portion of each channel beingprovided with spaced notches, with the notches of the channels beingtransversely aligned, and the relatively outer Wall of each channelbeing provided with openings aligned with said notches and registeringwith the recesses of the grooves, and at least one bracket extendingbetween said anchoring strips, said bracket including leg portions withlaterally oiset ends, said ends extending into said strip channels andprojecting through the apertures thereof and into the groove recesses,with the leg portions of said bracket adjacent said ends seating in saidnotches.

DAVID V. WALKER.

